Hammerhead
by gravekeepers
Summary: Dreams. A land where our wildest desires can come true. And sometimes... where our greatest fears are challenged. In this story, a dream sparks everything that leads Ryouga on a series of mysterious events that could possibly change his life forever. (SharkbaitShipping)


**Author's Note: **My first SharkbaitShipping fic. I absolutely love these two, so creating this story was really rewarding. Let me know what you think.

**CHAPTER 1: Awakening**

Ah, yes… gym class. A class period during the day that Kamishiro Ryouga absolutely despised. Don't get him wrong, he was definitely the "water" type. After all, his nickname was Shark… but, constantly having to be around his loud and obnoxious classmates for an extended period of time gave him a terrible headache. He much rathered the classroom setting where, for the most part, everyone had to remain quiet except for the teacher. During this gym period, Ryouga would sit more towards a small corner of the auditorium and watch his peers from a distance. Currently, he was witnessing what he usually witnesses everyday: Tsukumo Yuma was running around acting like the hyperactive boy he was with none other than Shingetsu Rei running not too far behind him. Ryouga rolled his eyes in dismay as he then took his eyes off of the childish sight and fixated them more towards the ground. At least the ground was somewhat more interesting.

As the bell for the period's end rang, Ryouga finally found himself to be somewhat content. Walking back to the locker room, Tsukumo Yuma and his gang quickly darted pass Ryouga. They were shouting something about dueling and how someone is going to beat someone after school. Ryouga entered the locker room and positioned himself next to his duffle bag to change back into his proper school uniform. When suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Yuma was taking off his swimming shorts — Ryouga quickly drew his eyes back to his own bag. Not even a second later, Yuma approached Ryouga and was now right next to him. A sharp sensation when through Ryouga's head as he wondered what Yuma was up to. Looking to his right, Ryoga lifted his head in the lowest form of curiousity only to find Yuma right next to him, staring into his eyes with nothing but his underwear on. Yuma's expression was solid and serious.

"Y-Yuma! What are you doing? Get away from me!" Ryouga demanded as he looked away and began to shuffle through his duffle bag. He didn't care what Yuma wanted now… he always acted strange, but this was on a whole new level. Well, sort of. Ryouga had finally found his shirt to throw on before the next period when he felt a warm touch his shoulder. The touch covered his entire shoulder and felt quite nice; but… Ryouga reacted instantly to it. He looked back. It Yuma's hand on his shoulder. A hand.

"Shark!" Yuma exclaimed loudly. Ryouga grew bright red and was absolutely speechless. Yuma's hands were now positioned on both of his shoulders while he looked Ryouga straight in the eye with a serious look. **"Never take life for granted… Shark!"** Yuma's warm hands were still grasping onto Ryouga's shoulders. They felt nice. They weren't as small as Ryouga had thought they were. Not like he ever thought about the size of Yuma's hands… but, they were delicate, but had a small rough edge to them on some parts. Ryouga felt frozen like a block of cold ice. He couldn't feel anything. he couldn't move at all — what was happening? Not even an eye twitch or the ability to slap Yuma's hand away was present inside Ryouga's body.

Yuma began to grow closer to Ryouga now. With his hands still on Ryouga's pale white shoulders, Yuma was literally drawing nearer to Ryouga's face. The contrast between Yuma's tanned, rough hands and Ryouga's delicate pale shoulders are to be noted in Ryouga's frozen mind somehow. But, a war was going on inside of Ryouga's head. He wanted to attack, but it was as if he didn't know how! Was that it? Or, was it because he couldn't physically do it? Yuma continued to come in closer and with every second Ryouga admits that it felt like a lifetime… just how much time has passed? Time. Time… ? Ryouga hadn't realized… it had already been at least 5 minutes since Yuma last touched him and spoke; and yet he was still frozen with Yuma drawing near him ever so slowly. Just then, Yuma quickly went right through Ryouga's body just as if Yuma was invisible… and then straight through the roof of the school! Ryouga's head felt dizzy as he situated himself and locked his balance towards the ground. He could finally move again.

Looking around now, Ryouga realized they weren't in the locker room anymore — it was more of a green pasture field with a bright blue sky. It had a specific feel to it… it was a cool, windy day and the green pasture grass was blowing with every breeze it could take. Ryouga couldn't pinpoint what that specific feel was, though. It was something about the atmosphere. The smell. The touch. The sight. Everything combined was so unique about this place. He looked up at Yuma who was now somehow flying across the sky as if he was a freed bird who was trapped in a cage for over a decade. Yuma had a jolly smile on his face as he soared around the blue, pasty sky that had hints of white clouds in the distance.

"Ryouga! Ryouga! Ryouga!" Yuma screeched to the heavens above! Ryouga was in awe of what was happening. Yuma was… flying? Not, pop flying — truly flying. It was as if this was exactly what would happen in a movie he had watched over and over on the television. It felt too surreal, but at the same time this WAS reality to Ryouga. And, wait… why was Yuma calling him Ryouga? He's never done that before… why not Shark?! Shark is what Yuma always calls him! Ryouga stood there, frozen again in confusion. His mind went blank and Yuma continued to fly across the plains. That good feeling was still there.

"Ryouga…! Ryouga! RYOUGA!"

Tch. Ryouga opened his eyes. Bright sunlight filled his eyes now. Rio was standing above Ryouga, looking down with a nasty look on her face. He looked around only to find out that he was lying in his bed. It was morning time. He looked back up at Rio with a dazed look in his eyes.

"Ryouga! I've been trying to wake up for the past 15 minutes! What is wrong with you? Get up, we're going to be late for school!" Ryouga was speechless. He laid there still recovering from his sleep; not truly realizing what was going on just yet. Rio, who was holding a cooking utensil and wearing an apron, decided to give up on her brother with a heavy sigh as she walked out of his room. "Well, at least he's finally up." She sighed and walked out of his room.

'So… it was just a dream.' Ryouga thought to himself. And a weird dream at that. What was up with Yuma appearing… shirtless and then flying off into the blue sky? And, that feeling… it felt so realistic that even a pinch wouldn't have done the trick to make him realize he was in dreamland. Nevertheless, Ryouga lifted himself up and sat up on his bed. He itched the side of his head and then felt around to grab the entire thing and decided to just shake it off. It couldn't possibly be anything worth his time. After all, everyone has crazy dreams once and while… and with the events that happened at the Duel Carnival only a few months ago, it's no wonder he would dream about the person he helped save Heartland City with. Nothing too big. Ryouga wasn't a person to worry. He picked in his battles when it came to what he chooses to worry about; and usually, he is always right.

"Ryouga!" Rio shouted from the kitchen excitedly.

Ryouga picked himself up out of his bed and threw his school clothes on quickly. Grabbing his backpack, he threw it over his shoulder and headed out of his room to try and start a new day. His senses were starting to finally begin to work not that he was waking up. Rio was cooking what smelled like eggs in the kitchen, as the aroma filled the house lightly. Ryouga entered the kitchen and wasn't surprised to find out that he was right about the eggs.

"Ah, you're up! Well, luckily we still have about 5 minutes to eat… and we can still make it to school on time! So, hurry up and grab a plate and —"

"I'm not hungry." Ryouga stated as he walked past his now distressed sister to go towards the back door to leave. Rio was deshuffled as she drew an unhappy expression on her face.

"Not hungry?! But, I've been working on these eggs for the past 10 minutes to get them just right!"

Ryouga continued to walk. He was now out of the backdoor and Rio was left inside of the kitchen by herself. The muscles in her face shifted to a frown as she looked down at her deliciously cooked eggs. She was so proud of those eggs, and she was really looking forward for Ryouga to share a meal with her. A second passed and the toast then popped up from the toaster. Rio shifted her gaze to it. She thought for a second. With a deep sigh, Rio threw off her apron and turned off the fire on the stove. She grabbed her piece of toast and threw it in her mouth. She'll at least have to get something in her stomach to make it to lunchtime. Running to the table, Rio grabbed her backpack and jetted out of the door to catch up with her brother.

"Ryouga! Wait up!" Rio caught up with her brother, who was walking quicker than he usually does. Walking side by side, Rio began to take bites of her toast as she went through her next dialogue with Rouga. "Ah, so you decided to walk to school day? That's different! But, still… it's a good thing because I can talk to you about how rude you were to your little sister this morning! You know, I spent over 15 minutes preparing those eggs for us, and now they're just going to sit on the fryer and never get eaten and —"

"— Rio. Please stop talking." Ryouga said coldly. Rio stopped in her tracks and stared blankly. Talk about an unusual morning. Usually… Ryouga isn't this coldhearted. He isn't the best morning person, but seeing him this different was very peculiar. Rio gave a small pouted face as she swallowed her toast, now wishing she had time to put butter on it… it was pretty dry going down her throat, not to mention not that tasty as the eggs she prepared. She was the younger sibling, but she wasn't used to taking orders from Ryouga. A lot of their peers compare the two saying that Rio is just a duplicate "female version" of Ryoga… but, she never believed that. Rio was always her own person, and she knew how to stand up for herself. It was something she took pride in. She began to refollow her brother, staying a bit close behind this time.

"You know, I just got out of the hospital not too long ago… and this is how you treat me!" Rio began as she finished off the last side of her toast. Her tone wasn't too furious, but there was an edge to it. "I bet there was a time a few months ago you would have loved for me to cook for you! And, now you're just walking right past me, waking up late, not eating… and being just plain rude." Her tone was then raised a bit. Ryouga still wasn't listening, and was continuously walking a few inches ahead. Rio realized he wasn't listening… and how hard she may be being on him… after all, everyone has bad mornings once and awhile. Realizing again, Rio may have just jumped to conclusions. Or, maybe it was because Ryouga didn't eat her eggs. Those darn eggs. After a minute of silence, Rio clutched on tightly to her backpack. She was going to finish the conversation with one final, nice piece of advice. It was the sibling thing to do to just let it go and let Ryouga be in a grumpy mood. Rio smiled. "I don't know… I just think sometimes you take things for granted, Ryouga."

Ryouga was now the one to stop in his tracks. His stared down at the ground. He was dead silent.

"Eh? What's wrong?" Rio blinked.

"Rio… Why did you just say that?"

"Say… what? I just said a lot of things." Rio said with a gentle smile… trying to take the pressure off of Ryouga's shoulders. She could definitely feel it. Something was different with him this morning.

"How I take things for granted." Ryouga was instantly reminded of his dream. It was back in his mind. Of course, it was already still lingering there while Rio was carelessly talking away: but, now it was right in the center of his mind again. The headache was back for its return.

"Oh… that? Well, I just said it because of the hospital thing. There was a time you'd sacrifice your life for me when I was sick, and now… you just passed up my meal! That's all…" Rio once again, giggled… trying to make the statement seem like it was nothing, trying to act like it was no big deal. She already felt guilty for over half the stuff she said and she didn't want to upset her brother anymore than he already seemed to be.

"And you don't think I wouldn't give my life up for you even now?" Ryouga said sternly.

"Well… yeah… I do know that you would. I was just—"

"— Just what?! Trying to make me feel like crap?" Ryouga's tone was growing. He obviously wasn't happy with his sister right now. He began to walk past Rio. He was walking faster than he was at first, and it was mainly to avoid the tension that Rio had inserted into his mind. Ryouga's emotions were all over the place and he was definitely not the best person to ever know how to handle his emotions. In times of emotional distress, he always felt it was better to just walk away before he said something he didn't mean. It was just the kind of person that he was. Rio understood that, too.

"I… I'm sorry." Rio trailed off her words as she watched her brother go ahead of her. She slowly continued to walk in the direction of school.

Ryouga was walking slower now that he was away from his sister. He was only a few feet from the school grounds and the walk he had alone for 15 minutes definitely allowed himself to calm down before he had to see his peers at school. Come to think of it, ever since the end of the Duel Carnival tournament… Ryouga was starting to really make bonds with the people around him. They weren't so much of a nuisance like they used to be. School wasn't as difficult for him, socially. And now that his sister was out of the hospital, a lot of his worries were lifted off of his shoulders. He finally felt happier for once in his life. But, his dream last night brought back a piece of the "old him" that he he used to dislike. Sure, he still wasn't the most sociable person… or the happiest. But, he found himself enjoying school more than he used to before the Carnival. Before Yuma.

"And, now! Since you no longer have any monsters on your side of the field I can direct attack! Go… Hope! Attack Tetsuo directly!"

A familiar voice. Ryouga looked up and saw on the outskirts of the school grounds a duel taking place. Walking closer to the battle, Ryouga realized that it was a fierce battle, but was surprised anyone had the time of day to wake up this early and duel. His ears were wide open to the sounds around him now.

"Aw, man! I knew I'd lose. I should have just stayed home and got more sleep." Tetsuo groaned.

"Hehe! That was an awesome duel, though! You gotta admit!"

Ryouga eyes widened. It was Yuma's voice. Now that he was closer to the duel, it was easier for Ryouga to make out the two boys. He kept his eyes at a distance and refused to look at Yuma. Ryouga's mind, once again, shifted towards the dream. The dream of where he was with Yuma shirtless… and Yuma was holding onto his shoulders in the locker room. The sensation of Yuma's hands returned to Ryouga's mind. Ryouga's heart began to pound. Of course he knew he'd see Yuma at school that day; but he didn't take the time to actually think about how he'd react once he saw him. The argument he had with Rio avoided him to think about the rest of his day; a morning ritual Ryouga usually does on his way to school. In fact, he didn't think he'd react at all to seeing Yuma, now that he thought about it. And, here he is now… surprised that he is giving any reaction to Tsukumo Yuma. But, it has to be the dream. The dream is just triggering unwanted thoughts and it's the first time he's seeing Yuma after having the dream. So, naturally, it would be weird to see someone you just had a dream about. Ryouga shrugged it off, and remanded to act cool and collected. This was nothing for him. Ryouga quickly walked past the battle just as Tetsuo and Yuma were taking their D-Gazer's off.

"Alright! Time to hit school!" Yuma shouted jubilantly as he began to run towards the school. Tetsuo followed closely behind.

"You'll actually be on time today." Testuo joked as the two guys now headed in the direction of Ryouga. Ryouga noticed tried to hide his face by shifting the other way around from the gang, but still able to head in the direction of the school. He truly didn't want to talk to Yuma at this moment. Not right now. He still needed time to collect his thoughts on last night's dream and seeing Yuma now would only confuse the situation more. And, possibly only make it worse. He just needed a bit more time to really sort out how he was feeling; just like the Rio situation prior to this. However, Ryouga's bright purple hair was no means of blending in with society. It stuck out like Yuma's obnoxious personality. He was explicitly noticed right away by the boys.

"Ah! Shark! Shaaark!" Yuma shouted to the heavens above. Ryouga could hear the excitement in Yuma's voice. Ryouga stopped walking, but did not look back at his two friends. He didn't want to deal with this not right now. A thousand things were currently racing in his head. He held on tightly to his backpack, which was still thrown over his shoulder, trying to exert the tension to another part of his body. He could hear footsteps coming up behind him as the sweat on his palms grew. Ryouga grunted, trying to shake it off… but, he couldn't do it instantly like he usually does. He knew these two guys weren't going to ignore him. With a deep sigh to himself, Ryouga turned around without saying a word and looked directly into the eyes of the boy he just had a weird dream about.

**(TO BE CONTINUED)**


End file.
